Firearm trigger lock fitting on the trigger guard

ABSTRACT

TO PREVENT A GUN TRIGGER SURROUNDED BY A TRIGGER GUARD FROM BEING ACTUATED ACCIDENTALLY OR BY AN UNATHOURIZED PERSON, A TRIGGER LOCK OR PLIABLE MATERIAL IS BENT UPON ITSELF AROUND THE GUARD AND LOCKED IN PLACE BY A SPECIALLY FORMED KEY WRENCH. THE LOCK THEN PREVENTS ACCESS TO THE TRIGGER SO LONG AS IT REMAINS IN PLACE. HOWEVER, THE LOCK IS SO CONSTRUCTED THAT IT CAN BE MOVED QUICKLY WITH THE AID OF THE SPECIAL KEY WRENCH.

Nov. 2, 1971 J. SOBOLEWSKI FIREARM TRIGGER LOCK FITTING ON THE TRIGGER GUARD Filed Sept. 12, 1968 LiiII 23 FE F/IG. 2

[/Vl/E/VTOR Edward J, Saba/ewsk A TTOl-P/VEY United States Patent 3,616,559 FIREARM TRIGGER LOCK FITTING ON THE TRIGGER GUARD Edward J. Sobolewski, Moorestown, N.J., deceased, by Helena Sobolewski, spouse of decedent, 159 Haines Drive, Moorestown, NJ. 08057 Filed Sept. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 759,349 Int. Cl. F41c 17/02 US. Cl. 42-1 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE To prevent a gun trigger surrounded by a trigger guard from being actuated accidentally or by an unauthorized person, a trigger lock of pliable material is bent upon itself around the guard and locked in place by a specially formed key wrench. The lock then prevents access to the trigger so long as it remains in place. However, the lock is so constructed that it can be removed quickly with the aid of the special key wrench.

This invention relates to gun trigger locks, and particularly to locks that are constructed to fit readily around trigger guards of various sizes and shapes to prevent access to the trigger so long as the lock remains on the guard.

It is well known that loaded guns are discharged sometimes either accidentally or by an unauthorized person and thereby cause damage to subjects or persons their discharged missiles strike. Various attempts have been made to prevent this, the most usual being a trigger lock applied to the gun trigger guard around the trigger. However, conventional locks for this purpose have a number of disadvantages among which are that they are made of several parts which are separable and any one of which, if lost or misplaced, renders the lock useless. In other cases, the locking elements of the locking devices are of such nature that they can be tampered with easily and the locks removed to free the triggers for ready access, thus enabling children or other unauthorized persons to discharge the guns. Some locking devices, even if free of the aforemen tioned and/or other disadvantages, fit only a particular type, or at best only a small number, of conventional trigger guards, which makes them useful as locking devices in only a limited number of cases. Other similar disadvantages are also known to those concerned with gun safety.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved gun trigger lock which is free of the aforementioned and other disadvantages found in presently available gun trigger locks.

More particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved gun trigger lock which will fit trigger guards of various sizes and types, and which can be applied thereto readily and easily.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved gun trigger lock which will readily fit a large variety of guns regardless of where the trigger is normally disposed within the trigger guard.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved gun trigger look as aforesaid which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, which is easy to apply and to remove quickly, and which is highly efi'lcient in use.

According to one form of the invention, the trigger lock is made of a sheet-like, pliable material formed with relatively thin, transverse sections approximately midway of its length so that the lock can be bent back upon itself along these thin sections around the trigger guard and thus embrace both the guard and the trigger. One side of the lock is formed with an outward extension having a bore provided with a coarse, square or Acme type of thread into which a mating screw can be threaded. To facilitate inserting the screw into the bore, the screw is tapered rather sharply to a point at its leading end. The other end of the screw has a ball head which is received in an open ended ball socket on the opposite side of the folded lock. When the lock is in place about the trigger guard, the pointed end of the screw can be inserted into the threaded bore and a specially formed key wrench can be inserted through the open end of the socket into the ball head of the screw to tighten the same and thus draw the two opposed sides of the locking device toward each other and tightly against the trigger guard. In this way, the trigger is protected against unintentional or unauthorized actuation, as by a child or by some individual who, out of curiosity, might be inclined to tamper with the gun and unintentionally pull the trigger.

The novel features of this invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be understood more readily from the following description, when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the folded trigger lock as seen from one side thereof,

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the trigger lock as seen from the opposite side,

FIG. 3 is a somewhat enlarged sectional view taken along the line IIIIII of FIG. 1 :and viewed in the direction of the appended arrows,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of one form of special key wrench useful in turning the screw of the device,

FIG. 5 is an end view of the key wrench as seen from the left in FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the trigger of a gun, the trigger guard around it, and a trigger lock applicable thereto, all in accordance with the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown a locking member 1 of pliable material (preferably a strong plastic) which is formed approximately midway of its length with one or more pairs of oppositely disposed, transverse grooves or notches 2 to provide between each pair a relatively thin, flexible area or section 3 along which the member 1 can be bent and folded easily around a gun trigger guard 4 which surrounds the trigger 5 of the gun. When thus folded, the locking member 1 provides two, spaced, substantially oppositely disposed sides or parts In and 1b between which the guard 4 can be received.

The locking member ll may be provided with transverse strengthening ribs 6 if desired. It is also formed with transverse ribs 7 on one of its faces, the ribs 7 being so disposed as to engage the inner part of the guard 4 and to trap between them and the sections 3 the lower part of the guard 4. The member 1 is also preferably formed with grooves 8 between which are ribs that engage the side edges of the guard 4 to further prevent the locking member 1 from slipping or riding along the guard 4 while it is being applied. The side 1a of the locking member 1 has a ball socket 9 thereon for reception of the ball head 10 of a locking screw or bolt 11 the opposite or leading end of which is rather sharply tapered and preferably terminates in a point 12. The opposite side 1b of the locking member is formed with an outwardly extending, hollow boss 13 for reception of the leading end of the screw 11. To insure ready reception of the screw 11 in the bore of the boss 13, the ball socket 9 and the boss 13 are so disposed on the locking member 1 that they are substantially opposite each other when the member 1 is folded as described above, even though the sides 1a and 1b may not be exactly parallel. As a matter of fact, since trigger guards of various guns are of different thicknesses, and since it is desirable that gun locks according to the present invention shall be readily accommodable on all, or at least practically all, known guns, it is more than likely that the two sides In and 1b will not be exactly parallel when the lock is first applied to the trigger guard, but only approximately so. In fact, in some cases, the axis of the boss 13 may be angularly related to the plane of the side 1a by as much as about 30 degrees. However, because of the ball head 10 of the screw 11 and the ball socket 9 in which the head 10 is mounted, and also because of the tapered, leading end of the screw 17, the screw can be readily adjusted to enter the bore of the boss 13.

The bore of the boss 13 is formed with preferably coarse threads 14. Square or Acme type threads are preferred since they provide maximum strength and are not apt to be jumped or stripped. Also, they are not apt to freeze on plastics, as are conventional threads. Beyond the tapered end of the screw 11, the screw is formed with one or two turns of a mating thread 15. Thus, once the tapered end of the screw 11 is entered into the hollow, threaded bore of the boss 13, a slight turn thereof will quickly cause the thread 15 to engage the thread 14 to cause the locking member sides 1a and 1b to be drawn toward each other and tightly against the trigger guard 4 to lock the trigger against easy access thereto. The extreme, outer end of boss 13 is preferably formed with an opening 13a to provide relief for the air in the bore of the boss 13 as the screw is advanced. The opening 13a also permits ready access into the bore of the boss 13 for cleaning out foreign matter.

For manipulating the screw 11, it is desirable that a special tool be required so that the locking member 1 cannot be locked in place and unlocked by conventional keys and/or tools, such as needle point pliers, for example. To this end, the ball head 10 of the screw 11 is made partly hollow, and in this hollow is disposed a stub 16 which is offset with respect to the axis of the screw and has a flat side 17. A special key wrench 18 must then be employed to actuate the screw 11 in either direction. As seen in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, the wrench 18 has a wing 19 from which extends a socket 20 the bore of which can receive the stub 16 and which has a chord-like flat 21 adapted to lie against the flat 17. By reason of the off-center location of the stub 16, the hollow in the ball head 10 has a relatively wide space 22 and a relatively narrow space 23 on opposite sides of the stub 16, as best seen in FIG. 3. It will also be noted that, by reason of the flat 21 in the bore of the socket 20, the thickness thereof above the flat 21 is greater than the thickness thereof elsewhere. Thus, the wrench 18 will only fit over the stub 16 when the wrench is so oriented that the thicker end portion of its socket will be opposite the wider space 22, but not otherwise. Hence, only a special key wrench will be suitable for the head 10 of the screw.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that an improved gun trigger lock has been provided by the present invention. It is to be noted that this trigger locking device will fit many types of guns irrespective of whether the triggers thereof are normally centered in the guard 4 or are near one end thereof. In either case, the locking device, once it is applied as desscribed above, will be eflective to prevent access to the trigger. Wherever the term gun is used herein, it is to be understood to means any type of gun, such as a rifle, a pistol, a revolver, etc., all of which contain an operating trigger within a guard. In some cases, the gun may have a socalled safety latch. To render the trigger locking device of this invention suitable for use on such guns, the corners of the locking member may be cut away, as shown by the curves 24 in FIGS. 1 and 2. Moreover, although only one form of locking device has been shown and described herein, it will undoubtedly be apparent to those skilled in the art that many other forms thereof are pos sible within the spirit of this invention. It is to be understood, therefore, that the foregoing is to be taken merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A gun trigger locking device for blocking access to the trigger of a gun having its trigger surrounded by a trigger guard, said device comprising:

two oppositely disposed, spaced parts for receiving said guard therebetween,

and cooperative means on said parts for locking said parts together against facile removal from said guard whereby to protect said trigger against access thereto so long as said device remains on said guard,

said device being constructed with a member of pliable material and foldable on itself to form said two parts and accommodable to fit trigger guards of various dimensions.

2. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 1 wherein said member has at least one pair of opposed notches thereacross on its opposite sides substantially midway thereof to provide a section of reduced thickness between said notches, said section providing a relatively thin area along which said member can be folded back on itself.

3. A gun trigger lock according to claim 1 wherein one of said parts has a ball socket into which the ball head of a locking screw is received, and wherein the other of said parts has a hollow boss thereon, said boss and said socket being so disposed as to be substantially in alignment with each other when said member is folded on itself, and said boss having an internally threaded bore which is adapted to receive the leading end of said screw.

4. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 3 wherein said boss has coarse, substantially square type threads in the bore thereof and wherein said screw leading end is tapered so as to be readily receivable therein, said tapered end being followed by at least one turn of a cooperating thread just beyond said tapered end.

5. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 4 wherein said tapered end of said screw terminates in a point.

6. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 3 wherein said locking screw ball head is partly hollow and has a stub in said hollow which is offset with respect to the axis of said screw.

7. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 3 wherein said bore is open to the atmosphere to act as an air' relief upon entry of said screw into and advancement of said screw along said bore and for facile entry into said bore from the exterior to permit easy removal of foreign matter from said bore.

8. A gun trigger locking device according to claim 1 wherein said pliable member is made of plastic material.

9. The combination with a gun trigger locking device according to claim 6 and wherein said stub has a fiat portion to provide a relatively wide space to one side of said stub, of a key wrench for actuating said screw, said 6 wrench having a socket whose bore is formed with a References Cited chord-like fiat portion to rovide a relatively thick Wall UNITED STATES PATENTS portion for said socket, said stub being receivable 1n said socket bore but only when said wrench is applied to said gg i 1 8 dt r 1f ht 'dflt v r i gf l s m e ermme re a Sal a 5 3,022,596 2/1962 Cannon 42- 1 o 10. The combination set forth in claim 9 wherein said 3066433 12/1962 Rogers et 0 screw head hollow is shaped to one side of said stub to SAMUEL FEINBERG Primary Examiner accommodate only the thinner portion of said socket bore wall but not said thicker portion thereof. 10 JORDAN: Assistant Examiner 

